Pumpkin Spice Pull Apart Bread with Vanilla Glaze

My baby boy is 5 months old today. Next month he'll be halfway to his first birthday and that's just crazy. Yes, it's still a while away, but I know it will approach far too soon and I refuse to let it happen! My husband, however, is planning all the manly things they'll get to do together when he gets a little older. Like camping and wild pig hunting.
Now for the recipe, I doubled it and made 2 loafs. It seems somewhat of a shame to go through all the work of making bread only to have it gobbled up so fast. Besides, I needed to take 1 loaf to something and I of course wanted a loaf for myself. Looking at the recipe it seems like a lot of steps. It really isn't too bad though. If you've ever made cinnamon rolls, it's a similar process and definitely similar taste. My glaze was a little clumpy, maybe I should have sifted the powdered sugar. It's funny how i'm not too lazy to make something like this, but when it comes to sifting, that's another story. I find slight joy in pulling the soft layers off, you'll understand once you try.

Pumpkin Spice Pull Apart Bread with Vanilla Glaze
Willow Bird Baking

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups bread flour

Filling Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Butter Rum Glaze Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/8 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Make the pull-apart bread dough:

Grease and flour a loaf pan and set aside. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, brown the 2 tablespoons of butter. Let it bubble and foam and when you see it start to brown, stir it so that it browns evenly. When it’s the color of dark honey, remove it from the heat and pour it into a large heat-safe mixer bowl to cool. In the same saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the milk until it bubbles. Remove it from the heat and pour it into the bowl with the butter. Let these cool until they’re about 100-110 degrees F. Set the saucepan aside for another use later. Stir the sugar and yeast into the milk/butter mixture and let it sit for about 10 minutes to proof. Stir in pumpkin, salt, and 1 cup flour. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring between each addition. When the dough is combined, knead on low speed with a dough hook until smooth and elastic, or knead by hand. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Let it rise in a warm place for about an hour until it doubles in size (After it rises, you can put it in the fridge overnight to use it in the morning, but let it sit out for half an hour before rolling if you do.)

Make the filling:

While the dough is rising, whisk the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a small bowl. Toward the end of the rising time, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter for the filling in the saucepan over medium-high heat and brown it as directed above. Put it in a small heat-safe bowl to cool for use later.

Shape and bake pull-apart bread:

Knead a sprinkling of flour into the dough, deflating it, and recover it. Let it sit to relax for 5 minutes. Flour a large work surface and turn your rested dough out onto it. Roll it out to a 20 inch long and 12 inch wide rectangle, lifting corners periodically to make sure it’s not sticking. If it seems to be snapping back, cover it with your damp towel and let it rest for 5 minutes before continuing. Spread the browned butter over the surface of the dough with a pastry brush and then sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top, patting it down to ensure it mostly sticks (I didn't use all of the cinnamon sugar mixture, it seemed like way too much to me).With the long edge of the rectangle toward you, cut it into 6 strips. Stack these strips on top of one another and cut the resulting stack into 6 even portions. Place these portions one at a time into your greased loaf pan, pressing them up against each other to fit them all in. Cover the pan with your damp cloth and place it in a warm place for 30-45 minutes to double in size. While dough rises, preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 325 if you have a glass loaf dish instead of a metal pan. When it’s risen, place the loaf in the center of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until dark golden brown on top, if you take it out at light golden brown, it’s liable to be raw in the middle, so let it get good and dark. Cool for 20-30 minutes on a cooling rack in the loaf pan while you make the glaze.

Make the glaze:

In your saucepan, bring the butter, milk, and brown sugar to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove it from heat, add the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, and whisk it to a smooth consistency.

Assemble and serve:

Use a butter knife to loosen all sides of the bread from the loaf pan and gently turn it out onto a plate. Place another plate on top and flip it to turn it right side up. Drizzle glaze over top. Serve each piece slightly warm with a drizzle of glaze.

Hot Dog Buns

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day! It's been a while since I posted anything. Last week I bought a 4lb. container of strawberries because they were on sale for really cheap and used some of them to make strawberry bread. I wasn't super crazy about it and didn't get a picture so I didn't bother posting it. Other than that i've been pretty lazy about baking lately.
Since today is Memorial Day and that means bbq, I used this opportunity to make homemade hot dog buns. I've been wanting to try it for a while but it's not that often we eat hot dogs. Making hot dog buns from scratch isn't something I would want to do everytime since it's so much easier (and probably cheaper too) to just buy a bag. But these turned out great and I wouldn't mind making them again if I get in the mood to. This recipe can also be used to make hamburger buns. I only made 1/2 the recipe and had 9 buns.
Hot Dog Buns
King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 packets or 2 scant tablespoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)

2 cups warm milk (105°F to 115°F)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons salt

6 to 7 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

*egg wash: 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water

sesame, poppy or caraway seeds or coarse salt (optional)

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar and then the yeast in the warm water. Add the milk, oil, salt and 3 cups of flour to the yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.Gradually add flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Put the dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a dampened towel and let rise until doubled, about one hour.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Divide into 18 equal pieces. This is done most easily by dividing the dough first into thirds, then those thirds into halves, then the halves into thirds. Shape each piece into a ball. Roll the balls into cylinders, 4 1/2-inches in length. Flatten the cylinders slightly; dough rises more in the center so this will give a gently rounded top versus a high top.

For soft-sided buns, place them on a well-seasoned baking sheet a half inch apart so they'll grow together when they rise. For crisper buns, place them three inches apart. Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Fifteen minutes before you want to bake your buns, preheat your oven to 400°F. Just before baking, lightly brush the tops of the buns with the egg wash and sprinkle with seeds, if you choose. Bake for 20 min. or until lightly golden.
yield: 18

Asiago (or Parmesan) Ciabatta

This recipe comes from King Arthur Flour. Those people really know what they're doing because this bread is simply amazing. It's an easy recipe and doesn't require a lot of work. It's hard to believe something requiring simple pantry staples turns out to be so good! The first time I made it I used Asiago cheese and this time I tried Parmesan since I was making some other stuff using parmesan as well. Both are equally delicious. The bread is soft and chewy and has bursts of cheese throughout it. And be sure to eat the crispy pieces of cheese that ooze out onto the pan :) (I ate them before I took the picture, but you can see 1 little piece still on the end) Asiago (or Parmesan) Ciabatta For some reason Blogger is messing up the formatting when I put the recipe in, so visit here, King Arthur Flour for the recipe. I'll just add that I didn't use a mixer on the dough but instead kneaded it by hand for a few minutes until soft and slightly sticky. I also had to add a little extra water.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

I was craving some bread, yes..I crave bread, and usually bread takes foreverrr to make, with all the rising and everything, and I just didn't want to wait that long. So I found this recipe i've had saved for a while and just happened to have 2 apples. Perfect! It wasn't long before it was done and I dug into it as soon as it came out of the oven. The bread was so good and we all enjoyed it. Except I have a hard time calling it bread because really it seems more like cake to me. Which would make it good for breakfast seeing as how so many breakfast foods are really dessert in disguise anyway. It reminded me Amish friendship bread, if you've ever had that before, except better, and without all the waiting and leaving it sitting around, which actually seems kinda gross to me. Anyway, this bread didn't last long and it's one i'll make again.

Apple Cinnamon Bread
Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups peeled and chopped apples (about 1½ to 2 apples)

Topping:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper; set the pan aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, allspice and cloves. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add in the oil, applesauce and vanilla and mix until smooth. Next, add the sugar and mix until well-combined.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually add in the flour mixture and mix until the flour is just barely combined. Gently fold in the apples with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over the batter in the loaf pan. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the loaf is golden and a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a dull knife around the sides of the loaf and turn it out on a cooling rack, remove the parchment paper and place right-side up. Cool completely before slicing. Wrap leftover loaf in plastic wrap and store at room temperature.

Almost Famous Rosemary Bread

I was flipping through my food network magazine I just received and came across this copycat recipe for the rosemary bread they serve at Macaroni Grill. I knew right away it was something I wanted to make. I saw that the recipe takes about 5 hrs. total and I had about 5 1/2 until I needed to leave to pick up Matt from the airport. I got to work right away and was able to take the bread out of the oven just as I was leaving the house. It's been a while since i've been to Macaroni Grill so I can't say if this is exactely like theirs, but it is really really good. The bread is so light and fluffy. I also liked that it came together so easily. Sometimes it's a battle with dough being too sticky and having to add a bunch of extra flour but this was perfect. I was so glad I was able to make it when I did because I wanted to serve it with a steak salad and minstrone soup I was making for lunch the next day and this went perfectly with the meal. It's also a great snack by itself served with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper for dipping.

Almost Famous Rosemary Bread

food network magazine April 2011

Yield: 4 small loaves

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz. pckg. active dry yeast

2 t. sugar

2 TBLS. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing and serving

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 TBLS. dried rosemary

1 t. fine salt

1/2 t. kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Stir the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup warm water in a large bowl. Let sit until foamy, about 5 min.

Add 1 TBLS. olive oil, the flour, 1 1/2 TBLS. rosemary, the fine salt and 3/4 cup warm water, stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting lightly with flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Brush a large bowl with olive oil. Add the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until more than doubled, about 2 hours.

Brush 2 baking sheets with olive oil. Generously flour a work surface; turn the dough out onto the flour and divide into 4 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, sprinkle some flour on the dough, then fold the top and bottom portions into the middle. Fold in the sides to make a free form square. Use a spatula to turn the dough over, then tuck the corners until to form a ball. Place seam side down on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, putting 2 balls on each baking sheet. Let stand, uncovered, until more than doubled, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Bake the loaves 10 minutes; brush with the remaining 1 TBLS. olive oil and sprinkle with the kosher salt and the remaining 1/2 TBLS. rosemary. Continue baking until golden brown, about 10 more minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Serve with olive oil and salt and pepper (I also like to add balsamic vinegar).

Steakhouse Rolls

I went with rolls to fulfill my baking urge this time. They're supposed to be like the dark brown ones you would get at a steakhouse. Mine aren't dark brown if you haven't noticed, that's because I didn't have the caramel coloring. I thought I would need to freeze some of these since we don't always finish off bread before it starts to get hard, but I didn't. Between the 3 of us, we ate them all up right away. These are thicker/heavier than a regular dinner roll, like a small loaf of bread. I'm always trying new bread recipes but this is one I would definitely make again.

Steakhouse Rolls
from King Arthur Flour


Ingredients:
Dough
1 1/3 cups warm water
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup honey
2 3/4 cups Unbleached Bread Flour
1 3/4 cups 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon powdered caramel color OR 2 teaspoons liquid caramel color (optional, but without it the rolls will lack their distinctive color)
2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

Topping
yellow cornmeal

Directions:
Combine all of the dough ingredients in the bucket of a bread machine, or in an electric mixer. Mix and knead until you’ve formed a smooth, slightly sticky dough.

If you’re using a bread machine, program it for the dough or manual cycle. If you’re using a mixer, start with the flat beater, then switch to the dough hook when the dough starts to form a ball and come away from the sides of the bowl.

Note: You may also prepare this dough by hand; it’s very sticky and a bit messy at first, but just keep at it, flouring your hands and trying not to add too much additional flour to the dough; eventually it’ll smooth out.

Let the dough rise in the bowl (or bucket of the bread machine) for 1 hour. It won’t have doubled in size, but should be just a bit puffy. Divide the dough into 10 even pieces (about 4 ounces each), and shape the pieces into 6 x 2-inch oval rolls. Coat each roll, top and bottom, with some yellow cornmeal. Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet, and allow them to rise, covered, in a warm place, for 90 minutes to 2 hours. They won’t have doubled in size, but will appear puffy; when you gently press your finger into one, the indentation will rebound quite slowly.

Bake the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 24 minutes, until the bottoms appear slightly browned (you’ll have to carefully pick one up to look), or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a roll reads about 200°F. Remove the rolls from the oven, and cool them on a rack.
Yield: 10 rolls.

Multi-Grain Bread (No Knead)

It's been a while. But i'm making my come back with a good one. First of all, I love bread. I love homemade bread and I love how it makes the house smell. There should be a candle that's homemade bread scented cuz I would buy it and have it lit at all times. I don't make bread too often, mainly because of the work involved, but we always enjoy it when I do. That's one reason why this recipe caught my attention. No Knead. And it's something different, it's multi grain. I mostly just make regular whole wheat bread but I really wanted to try something different. A couple of the ingredients involved are a little out of the ordinary, but relatively easy to find. Besides, I figured if this is something I like and will be making more of in the future, I don't mind getting the things needed since i'll actually be using them. And yes, I will be making more! The bread turned out just how I hoped it would! The crust was chewy and the center was so soft and so chewy and so perfect. The recipe seems a little long, but the hands on time is minimal since most of it is waiting. Even the waiting time isn't so bad since it's such a huge range (3-10 hrs, for example), that you can work it around your schedule. I saw this recipe on Our Best Bites, and like them, I started this bread Saturday evening then put it in the fridge. Before bed that night I took it out and put it on the counter, then Sunday afternoon-ish moved on to the next step. This recipe can also be made as a kit in a jar to give away.

Multi-Grain Bread
Fom the book kneadlessly simple by Nancy Baggett, via. Our Best Bites





Ingredients:
3 C (15oz) unbleached white bread flour
1/4 C (1.25 oz) whole wheat flour
1/4 C brown rice flour
2 T rolled quick oats (not instant)
2 1/2 T granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 1/2 T each sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and flax seed, mixed together
2 T cornmeal
1 packet Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast
1 liter mason jar if you're making the kit (ps-don't forget to include the recipe if you're giving this away!)

Directions for the kit (if you're not making the kit, just place ingredients into a bowl instead of the jar): Place the white flour in the jar using a funnel. Tap the jar on the counter to settle the flour. Set aside 1 1/2 T. of the seed mixture, and place the rest in a bowl along with the whole wheat flour, brown rice flour, oats, sugar and salt. Stir to combine then place in the jar. Tap again to settle all the ingredients so everything fits. Take the set aside 1 1/2 T. of seed mixture and place in a small bag with the cornmeal. Place the bag, along with the packet of yeast into the top of the jar. That's all there is to the kit. They keep in the pantry for up to 1 1/2 months or refrigerate up to 3 months. I contemplated making a couple jars just to keep around so next time everything will already be measured out for me.

Ingredients:
1 Multigrain Bread Mix
Scant 2 C ice water
1 1/2 T canola oil

Directions:
Set aside yeast and cornmeal-seed packets. Place the rest of the jar ingredients into a bowl. Measure out 1 t. of yeast and place it into the bowl then stir. Stir ice cubes into some water and wait atleast 30 sec. before measuring. Slowly pour water into dry ingredients. Go slowly, you may not need all the water. If you add too much, just mix in a little more flour. Add enough to bring the dry ingredients together, stirring vigorously and scraping the bowl sides. The dough shoud be stiff.
Once combined, brush the top with a little oil and tightly cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3-10 hours then let rise at room temperature for 12-18 hours.

After rising, generously oil a 9x5 inch loaf pan and sprinkle half of the cornmeal-seed mixture into the bottom and up sides of the pan. Stir the dough briefly, then pour into pan. Brush the top lightly with oil, then spread the dough into the pan using your fingers. Brush the top of the loaf generously with water then immediately sprinkle the remainder of the cornmeal-seed mixture on top. (I'm not sure if I reserved too much for the top or if I just didn't use enough water, but after making I had a lot of extra loose cornmeal mixture that I just ended up dumping off from the top). Using an oiled knife, cut a 1/2 inch deep slash down the center of the dough. Cover the pan with greased seran wrap.

2nd Rise:
For a 2-4 hour regular rise: let stand at warm room temp.
For a 45 min- 2 hour accelerated rise: let stand in a turned off microwave along with 1 C of boiling water. When the dough nears the plastic, remove it and continue the rise until the dough extends 1/2 inch above the rim of the pan.

After the 2nd rise, 15 minutes prior to baking, put a rack on the very lowest rack of your oven and place a broiler pan, or other shallow baking pan on it. Place your other rack one notch above that and preheat to 450 degrees.To bake, reduce heat to 425. Add one cup of water to the pan on the bottom rack; don't refill if it boils dry. Bake bread on the other rack for 35-45 minutes or until the loaf is nicely browned. Cover the top with foil and continue baking for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just slightly moist particles clinging to the bottom portion.

Crescent Rolls

It's been a long time since i've baked, or even cooked for that matter. Atleast a couple of weeks. Today I was actually in the mood to make some crescent rolls. Hopefully soon cooking will be sounding better since I do enjoy it. I asked my mom for her recipe since i've had them and like them and so I gave it a try. This wasn't my first time making crescent rolls, I have a recipe for cheddar herb ones that are really good too. I did a little experimenting with these to see what outcomes I liked best so i'll post the recipe with a couple slight modifications.

Crescent Rolls

Ingredients:

¾ Cup Warm Milk
2 1/2 t. yeast

½ Cup Butter
½ Cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Eggs
4 Cups Sifted Flour

1 egg slightly beaten

water, about 1 T.
melted butter, about 1 T.

Directions:

Combine warm milk and yeast, set aside. Blend together butter and sugar. Add salt, eggs and milk mixture. Beat in flour.

Cover with damp cloth and let rise until double (about 1 1/2- 2 hours.) OR refrigerate overnight or 24 hours.

Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a circle about 12 in. and cut into 8 wedges (pizza style). Roll each piece up going from the big end to the small then curve edges down to form a crescent shape.

Cover and let rise until double about 1 hour. Mix beaten egg with about 1 T. of water and brush over crescent rolls. Bake until golden brown at 350 for 12-15 minutes, don't overbake or they won't be soft. Brush melted butter over tops immediately after removing from oven.
Makes 16 rolls

Bread Bowls

These aren't the typical bread bowls, you know, the huge roll of bread with the middle scooped out. Nothing against them, I love them. These ones though are bread that's molded into the shape of a bowl and baked and they definitely make soup better. Don't worry if they're a little shabby, it makes them look more rustic ;)

Bread Bowls

Tammys Recipes

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used 50/50 all purpose and whole wheat flour to make it a little healthier..you can use whatever ratio you prefer)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons dry yeast

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon water

Instructions:
1. In mixing bowl, combine water, sugar, and salt.
2. Add flours and yeast. Stir and then knead to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Knead for about 5 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes
3. Grease the outsides of eight 6-ounce custard cups (oven-safe). Place cups upside down on ungreased cookie sheets.
4. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Pat or roll each piece into a 5-6 inch circle, on a lightly floured surface (or oil your hands and just form the dough in your hands). Shape dough over the outsides of the greased cups. Allow dough to touch cookie sheet, but not to curl under the edges of the cups.
5. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until slightly puffy.
6. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix egg yolk and water; brush gently over the bread bowls. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until bread is done and bowls are golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately, carefully remove bread from bowls. (I used oven mitts, since bowls and bread are very hot.)
7. Cool bread bowls upright on wire rack. Yield: 8

Baguettes

These baguettes take a little time and patience to make, mostly rising time, but it's worth it because they're good! It yields 3 loaves which may sound like a lot, but they really do go fast, even with just the 3 of us. I like these better the 2nd day, they're chewier and remind me of bread you would get at a restaurant while waiting for your food. Except for this time when I made them they weren't as chewy as when I made them the first time, i'm thinking I may have baked these a bit longer than before. Either way, they're still good, especially slathered in butter!

Baguettes
King Arthur Flour
Starter
1/2 cup cool water
1/16 teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
Dough
1 teaspoon active dry yeast or instant yeast
1 cup to 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water*
all of the starter
3 1/2 cups Unbleached Bread Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
*Use the lesser amount in summer (or in a humid environment), the greater amount in winter (or in a dry climate), and somewhere in between the rest of the year, or if your house is climate controlled.

Directions:
1) Make the starter by mixing the yeast with the water (no need to do this if you're using instant yeast), then mixing in the flour to make a soft dough. Cover and let rest at room temperature for about 14 hours; overnight works well. The starter should have risen and become bubbly. If it hasn't, your yeast may not be working. Dissolve 1/4 teaspoon of yeast in 1 tablespoon lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar, and wait 15 minutes. If nothing happens, replace your yeast, and begin the starter process again.

2) If you're using active dry yeast, mix it with the water, then combine with the starter, flour, and salt. If you're using instant yeast, there's no need to combine it with the water first. Mix and knead everything together—by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle—till you've made a soft, somewhat smooth dough; it should be cohesive, but the surface may still be a bit rough. Knead for about 5 minutes on speed 2 of a stand mixer

3) Place the dough in a lightly greased medium-size bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise for 3 hours, gently deflating it and turning it over after 1 hour, and then again after 2 hours.

4) Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface. Divide it into three equal pieces.

5) Shape each piece into a rough, slightly flattened oval, cover with greased plastic wrap, and let them rest for 15 minutes.

6) Working with one piece of dough at a time, fold the dough in half lengthwise, and seal the edges with the heel of your hand. Flatten it slightly, and fold and seal again.

7) With the seam-side down, cup your fingers and gently roll the dough into a 15" log. Place the logs seam-side down onto a lightly greased or parchment-lined sheet pan or pans.*

8) Cover them with a cover or lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaves to rise till they've become very puffy, about 1 1/2 hours.

9) Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 450°F; if you're using a baking stone, place it on the lowest rack.

10) Using a very sharp knife held at about a 45° angle, make three 8" vertical slashes in each baguette. Spritz the baguettes heavily with warm water; this will help them develop a crackly-crisp crust.

11) Bake the baguettes until they're a very deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack. Or, for the very crispiest baguettes, turn off the oven, crack it open about 2", and allow the baguettes to cool in the oven.

Yield: Three 16" baguettes.

Ham and Cheese Pretzel Bites

These little pretzel bites are amazing. They're as good as the ones you get at the mall (if not better!) and you don't even need to leave home. Rylee even ate a good amount of them! I haven't tried them with a dip, but they're good without one. I think these would be really good with some spice, like a jalapeno and cheese variation. I thought about that after the last time I made them and completely forgot about it until after I made them this time around. I made a double batch this time since we ate them so fast last time. Enjoy!

Ham and Cheese Pretzel Bites
Annie's Eats

Finished Product

Roll dough out and place fillingRoll dough up into logs, cut each log into 12 pieces. (photo: pre-water bath)
Post water bath. Time to bake!

Ingredients:

For the dough:

1½ tsp. instant yeast

2 tbsp. light brown sugar

¼ cup warm water

1 cup warm milk

2½-3 cups all-purpose flour
For the filling:

½ cup small diced ham (I had extra)

½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I needed more)
To finish:

6 cups water

4 tsp. baking soda

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Kosher salt (or pretzel salt), for topping

Directions:

To make the dough, combine the yeast, brown sugar, water, milk, and 2½ cups of flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until a dough has formed. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until a soft, elastic dough forms. Add the remaining flour a 1-2 tablespoons at a time until the dough is tacky but not sticky. If you don't have a stand mixer, like me, just mix the ingredients in a bowl with a big wooden spoon, then knead by hand on a floured surface until tacky.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, until the dough has doubled in size and bubbles on the surface, about 1½ to 2 hours.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces. Stretch or roll one piece of the dough into a 12 x 4-inch rectangle. Sprinkle some of the diced ham and the shredded cheese over one third of the dough closest to an edge, lengthwise. Roll up tightly, filling edge first, so that the filling is tightly sealed inside. Slice the log into 12 pieces and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Repeat with the remaining 3 portions of dough, and the remaining filling.
Preheat the oven to 400˚ F. Bring the 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the baking soda and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Boil the pretzels in batches, cooking for about 2o seconds and turning once. They should be slightly puffed. Use a slotted spoon or skimmer to transfer them back to the baking sheet.
Bake until puffed and golden brown, about 15 minutes. Brush the warm pretzel bites with the melted butter and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Homemade Tortillas

I never knew just how simple making tortillas is until I tried it. Just simple ingredients and simple tools gets the job done. From start to finish these will be done in about an hour (and 1/2 of that is resting time). I don't remember where I got this recipe (somewhere on the internet) but it's the only one i've tried. The first time I made them with all whole wheat flour, and they tasted fine, but they were a little too "earthy" tasting for me. I like to use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all purpose flour, but you can ratio it however you like.

Homemade Tortillas

Ingredients:
2 cups flour (white or wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup oil
2/3 cup HOT water

Directions:
Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a bosch or kitchenaid. (my preference is to use a mixer, but usually tortillas are mixed by hand.)
Mix to combine. Add oil and hot water (i heat water in a tea kettle until almost boiling.) mix to combine. If your dough comes together in a ball, you're all set. If your dough is still stiff and not coming together, add water by the Tablespoonful until it does.
Get a dishtowel soaking wet and wring it out. Place dough in a ball under the wet towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, divide dough into 8-10 balls and flatten like little discs. Leave them under the dishtowel while you are rolling out the tortillas.
Heat a cast-iron or stainless skillet on high while you roll the tortillas. After you get going, you may need to lower the heat a bit. (My temp. was medium-low, any higher and it would leave black spots instead of brown)You can also use a griddle (electric pancake griddle,) but crank it to the max temperature setting.
Lightly dust your rolling surface with flour. Roll tortillas into circles, starting from the center every time and rolling outwards, turning between rolls to get even circles. Dust more flour underneath or on tortillas as needed. Roll tortillas as thinly as you can, preferably as thin as paper.
Cook tortillas on both sides, watching carefully. You should get little brown spots if your pan is hot enough.
Immediately put the tortillas in a ziplock with the zipper part wide open, or in a tortilla warmer, this will keep them soft!

Wheat Bread

Here's a recipe for wheat bread, it's good, give it a try. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour and 1 1/2 c. whole wheat but I usually do 1 c. all purpose and 2 c. whole wheat. You can change up the ratio to suit your preferences though. This might seem obvious, but if you plan on freezing bread, you should slice it before you freeze it. It's like trying to saw through a brick after it's frozen. Then you can just pull it out as needed.

Wheat Bread
Yield: 1 loaf
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

Instructions:
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.
2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.
3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.
5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

Turtle Bread

I was looking through this 1980 Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook that my mom gave me a while back and spotted this recipe. Instantly I thought of the cute little turtle bread's i've seen at Boudin Bakery in SF. This recipe starts out with a sweet dough that can also be used for other things such as raisin bread, hot cross buns, kolacky, coffee cake and cinnamon rolls. However I decided to use all of the dough to make several turtles. The taste is similar to the Hawaiin sweet bread and has a nice fluffy texture. I didn't realize how big these would end up! I was going to attempt to make other things along with the turtle, but my artistic skills aren't that great. This really would be something fun to do with kids though. Just make the dough and they can create whatever they want and get to it eat it after! And don't forget to enter the giveaway here for your chance to win a $40 gift certificate to CSN Stores!

Sweet Dough

1 c. sugar

1 t. salt

3 packages active dry yeast
2 c. milk

1 c. butter or margarine
2 eggs

8-9 c. all purpose flour

In a large bowl, combine sugar, salt, yeast and 2 c. flour. In saucepan over low heat, slowly heat milk and butter until very warm (120-130 deg F). Butter does not need to melt. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat liquid into dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium; beat for 2 minutes more, occasionally scraping sides of bowl.

Beat in eggs and 2 c. flour; continue beating 2 minutes more occasionally scraping sides of bowl.

With spoon (big wooden one, prefferably), stir in enough additional flour (about 4 1/4 c.) to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Shape into a ball.

Turn over in greased large bowl to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until dough is doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. On lightly floured surface divide into pieces as recipes direct. Cove; let rest 15 minutes.

Turtle Bread

The 2 below are my dough turtles after assembling before the final rise and baking. PS- it's the same turtle it all 4 pics

1/4 c. Sweet Dough

1 egg

water

(**see notes on how to assemble at bottom)

Prepare sweet dough. Cut off 1/2 cup piece from dough; set aside. Shape remaining piece into 5-inch oval ball. Place on greased cookie sheet.

Roll reserved piece into 7 inch rope. From rope cut 2 inch piece for head; with scissors, snip eyes and mouth. Cut four 1-inch legs from rope; snip toes. Make pointed tail with remainder. Assemble body and shape shell.

Beat egg with a little water; brush turtle and let rise until doubled. Preheat ovento 375 F. Bake 20-25 minutes until browned.

**Assembling the body: Tuck head, legs and tail under oval ball and pinch to seal.

Shaping the shell: With scissors, snip designs in top of body. Pinch edge to resemble shell.

Bretzel Rolls

I thought these looked really good when I saw them on smitten kitchen and knew I was going to have to try them soon! They tasted just how I imagined, they're like a pretzel but with a lot more dough to crust ratio. I like the crust of the prezel a lot, but this is a roll afterall. Speaking of pretzels, I made some amazinggg pretzels a couple weeks ago, I wasn't planning on posting them but I think I will. Anyway, give these a try. I liked them better a couple hrs later better than I did hot of the oven, they were chewier.
Bretzel Rolls


(These are best eaten the same day as a regular pretzel is, but they will be fine for up to 2 days stored uncovered).
***I was out of cornmeal, so I didn't use it-dang weevils. But I haven't seen them since the last incident I wrote about. Thanks to throwing out all my flour, storing new flour in the freezer and putting bay leaves around the pantry.
***I also used regular dry active yeast, 1/2 T. in place of quick rising. It will just take a little longer for your dough to rise, about 1 hr. instead of 30 min.
***I slit the tops of the rolls just before putting them in the boiling water then a little bit again after I took them out of the water.
***I also liked a little garlic salt on them after cooking, but that just might be me being weird.

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 envelope quick-rising yeast or 1/2 T. dry active
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about) hot water (125°F to 130°F)
Cornmeal
8 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg white, beaten to blend (glaze)
Coarse salt

Directions:
Combine bread flour, one envelope yeast, one teaspoon salt and one teaspoon sugar in food processor and blend. With machine running, gradually pour hot water through feed tube, adding enough water to form smooth elastic dough. Process one minute to knead. Grease medium bowl. Add dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel; let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes (or longer is using regular yeast).
Punch dough down and knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide it into 8 pieces. Form each dough piece into ball. Place dough balls on prepared surface, flattening each slightly (I forgot to flatten, they turned out fine). Using serrated knife, cut X in top center of each dough ball. Cover with towel and let dough balls rise until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes (or more).
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a baking sheet or sprinkle with cornmeal. Bring 8 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar (water will foam up). Add 4 rolls and cook 30 sec per side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer rolls to prepared sheet and arrange X side up. Repeat with remaining rolls.
Brush rolls with egg white glaze. Sprinkle rolls generously with coarse salt. Bake rolls until brown, about 25 min. Transfer to cooling rack and cool 10 min. Serve them warm or room temperature.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I've had this recipe from Pinch My Salt bookmarked for a while. The other day matt brought in this HUGE zucchini that was hiding in the garden. It was seriously the biggest zucchini i've ever seen!! It probably weighed like 3 lbs. Immediately I knew what I wanted to do it! (well..about 1/2 of it since the thing was so huge!) This recipe is originally from Cooking Light and uses applesauce in place of butter. It was amazing! I seriously LOVED this stuff! As did Matt and Rylee. They're so moist and fluffy. I made them right before dinner and ended up eating it for dinner. And dessert. And as a snack throughout the rest of the evening. I also was a huge fan of using a mini muffin pan instead of a loaf pan. It cooked sooo much faster and there's no slicing involved. And they're just cute as little muffins. Since I still have half of the monster left in my fridge I think I might make another batch since yesterday's is about gone =\

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3/4 C. sugar

3 T. vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 C. applesauce

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 T. unsweetened cocoa

1 1/4 t. baking soda

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 C. finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)

1/2 C. semisweet chocolate chips (mini chocolate chips also work well)

cooking spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.2. Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at low speed until well blended. Stir in applesauce.3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into a 9×5-inch loaf pan (or mini muffin pan) coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour (or about 15 min. if using mini muffin pan) or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving is one slice) (I got 36 with mini muffin pan)
Nutrition info (per slice): Calories: 161; Fat 5.1 grams; Protein: 2.9 grams; Carb: 27.3 grams; Fiber: 1.4 g; Chol: 27 mg; Sodium: 145 mg